Welcome

Welcome to this blog. We want it to be a place to share and inspire. This is where we started... Exploring Sustainable Communities Through Kai What is it about? The purpose of this project is to support schools to continue to develop the Enviroschools principle of Sustainable Communities through the context of kai/food. This project has been initiated by The Enviroschools Foundation in partnership with The Tindall Foundation and WWF. These three organisations are keen to see innovative, creative and future-focused schools and their communities learning together to enhance well-being and community spirit, and they believe that kai/food has an important role to play in making this happen. We want to work with ten teachers to explore some questions about food and communities. We want to support these teachers to undertake innovative food projects that energise us as learners and contributors in our community. We will then work together to analyse and document the learning process and share our findings with teachers in the wider Enviroschools network. Questions we are wondering about: · What can Enviroschools contribute to building community through teaching and learning that enables student and community action? · How can Enviroschools projects contribute to needs in our communities? Such as: - having healthy affordable food for our families? - creating local employment? - regenerating and learning from past food practices, in particular those used by tangata whenua? - celebrating our diversity of cultures? - reconnecting us with the land and our neighbours? · In what ways do Enviroschools projects connect teaching and learning with plans, initiatives and people that are also engaged in food projects locally and as a community? · How will our learning in Enviroschools continue to make the concept of sustainability an achievable reality? 2. Why be involved? Your school might already have school gardens, orchards or programmes about cooking and sharing kai. Or you could be starting out and have ideas you want to explore. Wherever you are on your journey, you might want to be involved if you are interested in the following: 1. Exploring the previous questions and bringing your own questions to answer; 2. Expanding your ideas about food projects and involving your students in a food project that has benefits for them and their community; 3. Having new learning opportunities for students and bringing meaningful contexts for literacy, numeracy and other areas of the curriculum; 4. Pushing the boundaries a bit and being supported to try something beyond what you have done before. 5. Having professional development and peer support while working with your students on a project. 3. What are the expected outcomes? As a research project supporting the use of the Pūnaha Akoako /Action Learning Cycle, a range of learning outcomes and actions will evolve through the process. We envisage the following project outcomes: · A diversity of school projects that show how sustainable communities have been strengthened through classes engaging in learning and action about kai/food. · A range of case studies and stories about the different ways classes have brought to life the Enviroschools principle of sustainable communities through kai/food, to be shared through the Enviroschools network and on the website. · Some recommendations that may guide others on how to bring to life the principle of sustainable communities in meaningful, practical and engaging ways. 4. What might happen in the project? The following table outlines key stages we currently envisage for the project. Timeline Project stage Sept 2012 Invitation to participate sent out to schools to read, discuss and pass on to teachers By Fri 28 Sept Schools Register interest to be part of the project. Oct 15th-19th Week 1 term 4 Follow-up with schools and further information provided. Check your email or phone messages, we will be in touch beginning of first week of Term 4 Selection process and successful participants notified 2 Nov 2012 1-day hui to further explore the project, share and clarify thinking and set a planning process for teaching in learning in 2013 in place Dec 2012 An afternoon sharing time with all project participants – what is the plan for 2013? 2013: Term 1 and 2 Undertake kai projects. Enviroschools facilitator working with classes using the Pūnaha Akoako /Action Learning Cycle and keeping a record of what happens July Term 2 One day hui to share experiences. Research data gathering surveys Term 3 Initial data collected Term 4 Final evaluation, sharing and celebration of learning and considering the findings 5. Roles and expectations The following outlines the roles and expectations of participants in order to ensure a successful project. Schools/Teachers (register your interest if you can commit to the following) · Involve at least one, preferably two teachers, in the project with support from school leadership (if a whole school wishes to participate that would be great, please advise when registering your interest) · Enable participant teachers to attend the project launch hui on 2 November 2012 and attend further hui/meetings throughout the project · Engage in the kai/food project as a major learning focus in term 1 and/or 2 of 2013 · Work with your Enviroschools facilitator to plan and implement a programme of learning using the Pūnaha Akoako /Action Learning Cycle to take action on an issue/project of interest · Share your project including possibly formal research and using cycles of inquiry and reflection to capture learning processes, challenges and celebrations that will enable others to learn The Enviroschools Foundation and Enviroschools Project Team will provide: · Professional learning and development in the Pūnaha Akoako /Action Learning Cycle · Support and training for participants as required in the Enviroschools kaupapa and ensuring appropriate practices are utilised when working with students · Teacher release negotiated to meet the demands of the project · Facilitator time to work with teachers and students to support the outcomes of the project · Templates and procedures useful for planning and reflection · Feedback and research findings to participants · Links to networks for building and understanding sustainable communities